The Department of Health (DoH) on Sunday said that the country’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) fatality rate is on a downward trend, allaying public concerns over the spike of reported deaths lately.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the country’s fatality rate is now at 4.24 percent. Last May, the case fatality rate was at 5.52 percent.
“Mas mababa po ito sa kasalukuyang global case fatality rate ng buong mundo na tumatayo sa 5.6 percent as of June 13,” said Vergeire in a press briefing.
The DoH reported a total of 38 deaths for the past two days (16 deaths on June 12; and 22 deaths on June 13.)
“Marami ang nagtatanong: lumalala ba ang sitwasyon? Base sa datos natin sa nangamatay, ang sagot po diyan ay hindi,” said Vergeire.
“The rise in reported deaths from COVID-19 this month is due to a delay in the submission of validated mortality cases from the LGUs (local government units) to the DoH’s epidemiology bureau,” she added.
Vergeire gave an example of the reported deaths last June 13 which was at 22.
Out of the 22 reported deaths, only four actually died this month, specifically on June 3, 4, 6, and 9, she said.
“The remaining 18 deaths occurred in the previous months but were only recently submitted to the DoH Epidemiology Bureau,” she said.
This was seconded by Ateneo Professor Dr. John Wong, who is part of Interagency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases sub-technical working group (TWG) on data analytics. He noted that the validation of deaths due to COVID-19 takes some time.
“The actual date of deaths would occur first but that has to be reported to the LGU and then later on to the regional offices and the DOH,” said Wong.
“The DoH has to validate it… It takes some time before an actual death is reported and that explains the delay in reporting because we have to validate and make certain of the event that has occurred,” he added.
“With improved reporting efficiency, cases appear to be rising. However, adjusted for late reports, deaths have actually been decreasing,” he furthered.
Wong said that “fewer cases are dying that means we are saving more lives.”
“The pandemic we are experiencing right now is a first in many ways. And, as such, the reporting and validating of cases is an evolving science which is why we encounter several challenges along the way,” he said. (Analou de Vera)
